Got a Sudden Pain or Spasm? Try this Trick

So, sometimes I post stuff on Facebook, especially when it’s just a link to something that I found useful, a series of thoughts I have that are under 500 words, or sometimes a video that I don’t think deserves the Youtube treatment. For instance:

What do you think? This works pretty consistently for me, though it doesn’t seem to work as well for jaw pain as my usual technique.

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4 thoughts on “Got a Sudden Pain or Spasm? Try this Trick”

I very much like the idea of this, but seem to be failing at the execution. I am pretty fat so grabbing skin the way demonstrated is not an option – I was trying this on my shoulder (traps), wrapping my hand around the muscle like I would to try and massage it but attempting to get more of a fascial/skin pull, but I end up with my hand sliding off after about 20 seconds. Suggestion? 😛

I’d love to get this down as well because when I’m running I get a horrible, stitch-like cramping in my traps (hi, I am freaking tense in my neck and shoulders all the time, how about you?) and I just kind of pummel it trying to at least distract myself with a different pain. Something that made it stop would be fantastic.

Worry not about fat, my friend! We’re going strictly for skin here. Even if you can’t pinch between fingers and thumb, you can squish the skin up away from the underlying muscle a bit. You can even just shove the skin away from the underlying pain. That’s all that’s required. Engage the skin, hold, and breathe. Give it a try, let me know!

So based on my traps being a muscle I *can* grab either side of, would you recommend the pinching grip but gentler to prevent sliding, or does it also work to push on one side (ie: flat palm, fingers above my clavicle, pushing upward similarly to in the TMJ video but without continuing upward)?

Heya Hrovitnir, either would work! The one unifying factor is stretching the skin a bit, whether it’s giving it a static shove, a long slow pinch, etc. You might find the grabbing technique a bit easier for your upper traps, just because the leverage isn’t there for a good skin shove. But dragging forward might work… hmm… Play around with it, let me know!